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Shammi Silva elected president of Sri Lanka Cricket

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Mohan de Silva and Ravin Wickremaratne have been voted in as secretary and vice president respectively, while K Mathivanan also returns as vice president

Madushka Balasuriya21-Feb-2019Shammi Silva has been elected president of Sri Lanka Cricket. Drawing in 83 out of a possible 142 votes Silva, a candidate backed by former president Thilanga Sumathipala, beat Jayantha Dharmadasa, who received 56 votes.Despite the many delays and swings in fortune over the course of the last several months, when elections were postponed indefinitely and SLC was run by a sports ministry-appointed Competent Authority, the final tally of votes means essentially the same faces return to power.Alongside Silva, other members of the previous executive committee in Mohan de Silva and Ravin Wickremaratne have been voted in again, this time as secretary and vice-president respectively. K Mathivanan also returns as vice president, the only member of the Dharmadasa faction to be elected.The results translate to yet another unhappy election outcome for the brothers Ranatunga. Former World Cup winning captain Arjuna lost out narrowly in the race for vice-president, racking up 72 votes to Wickremaratne’s 82 and Mathivanan’s 80, while the younger Ranatunga, Nishantha, running for the post of secretary, picked up just 43 votes to de Silva’s 96.The end result is a mere shuffling of the same people, with Sumathipala and Dharmadasa the only major players missing out among the office bearers voted in during SLC’s last elections in 2016.In the race for other positions, Lasantha Wickremasinghe (100 votes) beat Eastman Narangoda (37) to the post of treasurer, while Lalith Rambukwella (92) was voted in ahead of Sanjaya Senarath (42) for assistant treasurer. Chrishantha Kapuwatha (94) was voted in assistant secretary ahead of Hirantha Perera (44).In the preceding weeks both de Silva, who was set to run for president, and Wickremaratne, who was up for the post of secretary, had been banned by an election appeals committee after being adjudged to have violated Sri Lanka’s Sports Law, which as per a 2016 amendment prevents any previous office bearer of a national sports body which had been dissolved by government from contesting in any future elections. The pair had been part of ousted committees in 2001 and 2005.In response, de Silva and Wickremaratne challenged the ruling in an appeals court, which was where a loophole was discovered. As it transpired, while de Silva and Wickramaratne had put their names in the hat for multiple positions, the objections filed against them had only referenced some of those posts. Essentially, this allowed the pair to contest on the condition that it wasn’t for the posts they were banned from.It is unclear who is at fault for these clerical errors, but in any event it left the legal counsel representing the Sports Ministry no choice but to let de Silva and Wickremaratne contest for the posts of secretary and vice president. The writ petition hearings though are set to continue on 21 March.This turn of events is thought to have swayed voter sentiment. Until then Silva, a backup candidate to de Silva, was to run for president against Dharmadasa, while the coveted posts of vice president and secretary were set to be run virtually uncontested by those in the Dharmadasa camp – a situation that, had it prevailed, would almost certainly have seen Dharmadasa come out victorious in the presidential stakes.That events panned out in this manner, while unexpected, was not wholly surprising. Thilanga Sumathipala has long been identified as the most powerful force in Sri Lanka Cricket, and despite not contesting this time around, he has continued to cast a wide shadow. Most notably in the strong voting bloc he possesses, which is likely what eventually won Silva the presidential race.One of the primary election strategies for Dharmadasa and his camp had been to neutralise this threat. Nishantha Ranatunga’s court case against Sumathipala, which eventually led to the latter withdrawing his candidacy, and Dharmadasa’s objection to Mohan de Silva’s candidacy had seemingly achieved this goal successfully.So much so that Dharmadasa had been favourite to take the post right up until the eve of the elections. But that late compromise between Sri Lanka’s Sports Ministry and the previously disqualified pair of de Silva and Wickremaratne reinstating them in the race, gave the Sumathipala-backed faction the numbers they needed.It is a scarcely believable fact that Shammi Silva learned of his candidacy for president on the eve of the race; Silva is in essence president by accident. Though by now, not many are in doubt as to who exactly is running the show.

Wells and Bosisto secure draw for Western Australia

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Western Australia opener Jon Wells scored the third hundred of his first-class career as the Warriors frustrated Victoria by playing out a draw on the final day at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2017
ScorecardWilliam Bosisto grafted a 300-ball 98•Getty Images

Western Australia opener Jon Wells scored the third hundred of his first-class career as the Warriors frustrated Victoria by playing out a draw on the final day at the MCG. Fellow opener Will Bosisto fell just short of a century himself, caught behind off the bowling of Chris Tremain for 98, but the 195-run stand he and Wells had built was enough to prevent a Victoria win.The day had started with Western Australia on 0 for 86 in their second innings, needing a further 121 to make the Victorians bat again. The openers cruised past that mark before Wells was the first man to fall, caught off the bowling of Jon Holland for 107. Hilton Cartwright was caught behind off Daniel Christian for 13, before the captains agreed at 3 for 281 that no result was possible and they called the game off.Victoria used 10 bowlers as the match petered out, with only wicketkeeper Seb Gotch not rolling his arm over. Mitchell Marsh finished unbeaten on 38 and Marcus Stoinis was on 16. The result means that Victoria, winners of the past three Sheffield Shield titles, head into the break in the season without a single win.

Somerville five leaves NSW with target of 96

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ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2016
ScorecardFile photo – William Somerville’s career-best 5 for 65 included the wickets of Cameron Bancroft and Michael Klinger•Getty Images

New South Wales were 93 runs from victory at stumps on the third day at the SCG, after spinner William Somerville claimed a career-best 5 for 65 as Western Australia were dismissed for 177 in their second innings. It meant a target of 96 for the Blues, who batted two overs before stumps and reached 0 for 3, with Daniel Hughes on 3 and nightwatchman-opener Somerville yet to score.The Warriors had started the day on 0 for 14, needing a strong batting display to set New South Wales a challenging target on a dry, turning pitch. But the loss of both openers, Cameron Bancroft and Jon Wells, to spin within the first four overs of the day was a sign of things to come. Only captain Michael Klinger (50) and Ashton Agar (35) were able to offer much resistance among the top order.Ashton Turner chipped in with 32 lower down, but the work of Somerville and Steve O’Keefe did the job for New South Wales. O’Keefe followed his five-wicket haul from the first innings with an incredibly miserly 3 for 41 from 38.3 overs in the second, while Somerville finished with match figures of 9 for 126.

Haryana collapse around Sehwag, Yadav tons

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A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy Group A matches on October 22, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Virender Sehwag treated the Mysore crowd to 14 fours and three sixes•Getty Images

Virender Sehwag and Jayant Yadav feasted on Karnataka’s bowling for over two sessions, before a sensational implosion helped the defending champions storm back into the contest, as Haryana ended the opening day in Mysore on 319 for 8.Sehwag made a chanceless 136 in his first innings since announcing his international retirement, while Jayant, who was reprieved thrice, made 100 during the course of a 206-run, third-wicket stand. But Haryana, cruising along at 278 for 3, suddenly fell apart, with the second new ball denting their chances of putting up a 400-plus score.Medium-pacer HS Sharath overcame a bout of cramps on an unusually hot afternoon before returning to take a hat-trick. He finished with 4 for 48, while David Mathias, the debutant, took two to even the scales for Karnataka.While the spinners were largely ineffective on a green-tinged pitch, the pacers kept their intensity up for most parts of the day, despite four catches being fluffed behind the wicket, with KL Rahul accountable for two of them. Jayant, who lived a charmed live after being dropped on 8, 10 and 22, played some authoritative strokes to bring up his second first-class century.But the day clearly belonged to Sehwag, who hit 16 fours and three sixes during the course of his 170-ball vigil to give the festive Mysore crowd wholesome entertainment on a fascinating day.
ScorecardSudip Chatterjee’s third first-class ton lifted Bengal to a position of strength against Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Bengal, after being inserted, lost their openers Parthasarathi Bhattacharjee and Naved Ahmed early, but Chatterjee and Manoj Tiwary led a recovery, joining hands for a third-wicket association which yielded 103 runs. Tiwary eventually fell for 55 after striking six fours and a six, but Chatterjee carried on till stumps, remaining unbeaten on 108 with fours. Chatterjee received ample support from Wriddhiman Saha, who himself remained unbeaten on 67. The pair’s 142-run partnership took Bengal to 272 for 3 before the day ended.
ScorecardFast bowler Umesh Yadav and offspinner Akshay Wakhare claimed four wickets apiece, as Vidarbha bowled Assam out for 206 on the first day of their Ranji clash in Nagpur. Assam, opting to bat, were dealt two early blows, as the opener Pallavkumar Das was trapped lbw by Aditya Sarwate off the second ball of the innings, before Gokul Sharma followed suit for a duck two overs later. A 59-run stand between Amit Verma (57) and Arun Karthik helped Assam past the 100-run mark, but regular blows from Yadav (4 for 49) and Wakhare (4 for 47) meant Assam collapsed from 106 for 3 to 115 for 7. Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad (69) and Kunal Saika stitched together a 58-run partnership, but Assam folded soon after that. Vidarbha were 1 for 0 in the two overs they batted before stumps.Rajasthan v Maharashtra – Maharashtra fight back after Menaria fifty

Clarke waylaid by gastro

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Australia’s captain Michael Clarke was taken by ambulance to Sutherland hospital in Sydney overnight after suffering a severe bout of gastroenteritis

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2013Australia’s captain Michael Clarke was taken by ambulance to Sutherland hospital in Sydney overnight after suffering a severe bout of gastroenteritis.Having returned home early from the Test tour of India due to back and hamstring problems that have since ruled him out of the IPL, Clarke was waylaid by the stomach trouble on Sunday night and treated overnight before returning to his home on Monday.”Cricket Australia today advised that Michael Clarke was hospitalised overnight with gastroenteritis,” a CA statement said. “Clarke has since been discharged from hospital and CA confirms that he is recovering at home.”Clarke is working to return to fitness in time for the Champions Trophy tournament in England which serves as a precursor to this year’s Ashes series.

Mahmudullah, Ziaur star in Chittagong win

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An unbeaten century stand between Mahmudullah and Ziaur Rahman helped Chittagong Kings chase down 153 against Sylhet Royals in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2012
ScorecardPeter Trego’s effort was in vain•BPL T20

An unbeaten century stand between Mahmudullah and Ziaur Rahman helped Chittagong Kings chase down 153 against Sylhet Royals in Mirpur. The win puts Chittagong at the top of the points table, while it was the fourth loss in four games for Sylhet.Sylhet had chosen to bat and were jolted early, with opener Imrul Kayes falling for a duck. That wicket brought captain Peter Trego to the crease and he put on a solid partnership with Kamran Akmal. The pair added 83 in ten overs, but could not provide an adequate late surge and fell soon after crossing their fifties. That meant Sylhet finished on 152 for 4.After the Powerplay in the chase, Sylhet looked good to register maiden points in the competition, picking up three wickets and keeping Chittagong to 45 in 6.1 overs. However, that was a good as it got for Sylhet. From there on captain Mahmudullah and Ziaur flayed the bowling around, adding 109 at almost ten an over. They smacked six sixes between them to take Chittagong home in the 18th over. Mahmudullah finished on 56 not out and was named Man of the Match.Sylhet, meanwhile, will replace fast bowler Rubel Hossain with Abul Hossain in their squad. Rubel has been ruled out of the BPL 2012 with a shoulder injury.

Porterfield backs Ireland to surprise again

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Ireland captain William Porterfield is confident his side repeat the 2007 heroics and progress from the group stages of the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2011Ireland captain William Porterfield is confident his side can repeat the 2007 heroics and progress from the group stages of the World Cup.England, South Africa, co-hosts India and the West Indies are favourites to qualify from Group B but captain Porterfield backs his side to spring a surprise.”I think we have a great chance of getting out of our group,” he said.
“We’ll be pretty well prepared come our first match group match (against Bangladesh) on 25 February.”Ireland faced a similarly unlikely task in their maiden World Cup four years ago before recording a memorable win on St Patrick’s Day over Pakistan to reach the Super Eights.Porterfield was part of that side and, on the eve of his team’s first warm-up game, against New Zealand in Nagpur, believes his team can do it again.”The top four out of seven get there [to the quarter-finals] and then there is the knockout stage where anything can happen. Obviously, we’ll be looking to get used to the conditions, but we were out in India before Christmas and we’ve already been together a couple of weeks.”Porterfield, who recently signed for Warwickshire after playing County cricket with Gloucestershire, ranks the current squad as better than the one which delivered the shock success in 2007.Jeremy Bray and Dave Langford-Smith have retired, while star-batsman Eoin Morgan transferred his allegiance to England, but the 2011 squad includes young talents such as Paul Stirling and George Dockrell and is boosted by the return of Ed Joyce, who played for England in the 2007 tournament.13 of the 15-man squad are professional players, significantly more than the largely amateur squad of 2007. Seven have county deals and while six more are contracted by Cricket Ireland, meaning only Nigel Jones and Andrew White hold day jobs.”That has been a big strength of the last couple of years,” added Porterfield.
“We have been able to improve our games by playing day in, day out. The professional set-up is where we’ve really moved on. We have got players who can fit any occasion we come up against and I think we have a well-balanced squad going into this tournament.”

Australia push to keep up momentum

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Australia’s victory in Adelaide decided the series and consigned the two matches in Perth to dead-rubber status. But like most dead rubbers, there remain several individual storylines to keep the fans interested

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale28-Jan-2010

Match Facts

Shaun Marsh is hoping for his first major international contribution at his home ground•Getty Images

Friday, January 29, WACA

Start time 1230 (0430 GMT)

The Big Picture

Australia’s victory in Adelaide decided the series and consigned the two matches in Perth to dead-rubber status. But like most dead rubbers, there remain several individual storylines to keep the fans interested. Can Australia make it a 5-0 whitewash? Is there anything Mohammad Yousuf can do to save his captaincy? Can Ricky Ponting find form after yet another missed pull brought him a duck in Adelaide? Will Ryan Harris make himself a permanent ODI player or was his five-for a one-off? And will the Perth fans turn up to two games in three days, neither of which has any bearing on the series result?Pakistan could be forgiven for feeling browbeaten after losing all three Tests and all three one-dayers so far. But this could be their best chance of getting a win on the board on this trip. Australia have taken the opportunity to rest Shane Watson, who over the past six months has been so important to Australia that he has been not only their leading ODI run scorer but also their top wicket taker. Doug Bollinger is also taking a break but Mitchell Johnson returns to the squad having sat out of the first three games. Australia will be keen to keep up their winning form with five ODIs against West Indies just around the corner.Ponting will be hoping for a big personal effort after his misjudged-pull-lbw on Tuesday. He has come under fire for getting his cross-bat strokes wrong this summer but he said he was not worried about the trend. “Not at all. I’m not worried about getting a short ball from Rana, that’s for sure,” Ponting said. “The first couple that I faced I actually felt the ball bounced quite normally. The one I got out on I felt it didn’t bounce … as much. “I felt it was pretty much the same length as the last two. The last couple of games I’ve felt I haven’t scored quickly enough. I wanted to be a bit more positive and put it back on the bowlers a little bit more and as it turned out I made a zero.”

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia WWWNW

Pakistan LLLLL

Watch out for…

Shaun Marsh has made plenty of runs at his home ground, the WACA, over the past few years. But at international level, his only two appearances there have brought scores of 5 and 15. Marsh is in promising touch, having scored 41 and 83 in the past two games and without his opening partner Watson the Australians will be looking to him for a strong start.Salman Butt has been Pakistan’s most consistent batsman over the past month. He was on the way to another anchoring innings in Adelaide when he was sent packing for 34 thanks to an atrocious lbw decision. A good start from Butt will be one of the keys if Pakistan are to get a victory on the board.

Team news

Australia will make at least two changes, with Bollinger and Watson to be rested from the remaining two ODIs. Johnson will take Bollinger’s position and James Hopes is the logical replacement for Watson, as a fellow medium-pace allrounder, which means Adam Voges is unlikely to break into the team unless a middle-order man like Michael Hussey or Michael Clarke is rotated out. There are several options as to who could open with Shaun Marsh in Watson’s absence but the most likely is Brad Haddin, who has done the job 13 times in the past year for an average of 46.58. The success of Harris in Adelaide could encourage the selectors to be cautious with Peter Siddle’s back soreness and give him extra time to recuperate.Australia (possible) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 James Hopes, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Ryan Harris, 11 Clint McKay.Mohammad Aamer is likely to be left out of the final two games with a groin problem that also kept him on the sidelines in Adelaide. Fawad Alam showed enough fight to keep his place ahead of Shoaib Malik and with the series lost, there is no reason not to give Rao Iftikhar and Khalid Latif a run, neither having played yet on this tour. But trying to predict what the Pakistan selectors will do is an unrewarding task.Pakistan (possible) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Fawad Alam, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Mohammad Asif, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Pitch and conditions

The WACA usually provides runs in abundance and in three of the past five one-day internationals there, the team batting first has posted 280-plus. The players will need plenty of drinks breaks: the forecast for Friday is very hot and sunny with a maximum temperature of 37C.

Stats and trivia

  • Australia have won 54% of their ODIs at the WACA, which is their second-lowest winning percentage of any ground in Australia. Their only worse venue is the Gabba, where they have won 46%
  • Australia are enjoying a purple patch and have won 21 of their past 26 ODIs. By contrast, Pakistan have won 11 of their past 26

    Quotes

    “We are trying to make the opposition feel as uncomfortable as we possibly can and win all the games we play.”


    “I try my level best but I think this is the best team in the world to play against. I think we play good cricket, not bad cricket.”


Cricket at LA Olympics 2028 to start on July 12

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The medal matches will be played on July 20 and 29, with all games to be held at the Fairgrounds Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2025Cricket’s return to the LA Olympics 2028 will begin on July 12, with the medal matches scheduled to be played on July 20 and 29. All the matches will be held at the Fairgrounds Stadium, a temporary, purpose-built venue in the city of Pomona, about 50km from Los Angeles.Six teams each in the men’s and women’s sections, and a total of 180 players, will compete in the T20 format. Each team can name a 15-member squad for the competition.Most match days will be double-headers, while there are no matches slotted on July 14 and 21. The matches will begin at 9am and 6.30pm local time. It will be the same for the medal matches as well.Related

  • ICC set to approve continental qualification system for LA Olympics 2028

  • T20 cricket confirmed as one of five new sports at LA28

  • Cricket at LA28: both men's and women's events to be six-team contests

  • CWI asks ICC for 'fair and transparent' pathway to LA28 Olympics

The Fairgrounds Stadium, officially known as Fairplex, is a nearly 500-acre complex that has hosted the LA County Fair since 1922 and regularly serves as a venue for concerts, trade shows, sporting events, and cultural gatherings.”When the world comes here for these Games, we will highlight every neighbourhood as we host a Games for all and work to ensure it leaves a monumental legacy,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “We are already delivering that legacy as we announce there have been more than one million enrollments in PlayLA.”I want to thank LA28 and the International Olympic Committee for making these programs possible and for their continued work to host the greatest Games yet.”This is the first time that cricket will feature in the Olympics since 1900. Then, only two teams, Great Britain and France, had competed in a two-day match, with Great Britain winning the gold medal.Cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics further propels the growing stature of the sport. Women’s cricket made its CWG debut in Birmingham in 2022, while both the men’s and women’s games have been part of the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023. Recently, Grand Prairie, Lauderhill, and New York hosted a number of matches at the 2024 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies.

Liyanage: 'More than the century, I wanted to get the team to victory'

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He produced a knock for the ages in conditions favouring the fast bowlers but fell five short of what would have been a maiden ODI century

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Jan-2024In only his second ODI, Janith Liyanage produced a match-defining performance, one that took his side to a thrilling win against Zimbabwe in Colombo on Monday. His 95 off 127 balls was by far the highest individual score for Sri Lanka in the second ODI, the next-best score being 21 as the hosts sneaked home by two wickets.Liyanage did, however, fall five runs short of a maiden international ton, when he attempted to thump Blessing Muzarabani down the ground for six in the 43rd over, and was caught at mid-off instead. On the surface, it appeared an unnecessary stroke as Muzarabani was one of Zimbabwe’s most threatening bowlers, and Sri Lanka still had 46 balls in which to get the 37 runs they needed. What’s more, Liyanage’s departure left Sri Lanka with only two wickets remaining and put Zimbabwe again into the ascendancy.The hosts would hobble to their target of 209 eventually, as rainfall intensified in the roughly half hour of play. Liyanage explained that it was the rain – rather than the scoreline, or the desire to reach a century – that forced him to take the risk in the 43rd over.Related

  • Liyanage, Theekshana, tailenders give Sri Lanka thrilling win

“More than the century, what I wanted was to get the team to victory,” he said. “At that time, we were about five runs behind the DLS score. So I thought if I hit a six in that over, we’d be able to win even if the match stopped because of rain. All I thought of was winning the match, and I’m glad we were able to get there.”Liyanage had also earlier put on a 56-run seventh-wicket stand alongside Maheesh Theekshana, to lift Sri Lanka from a scoreline of 112 for 6. Theekshana contributed only 18 to this partnership, which saw Liyanage bat more aggressively than he had earlier in the innings. But he chose his targets carefully.”When Maheesh and I were batting, they [Zimbabwe] were bowling their best bowlers, and they only had a few overs left,” Liyanage said. “So our plan was to get two or three runs an over off their best bowlers, then take the game into the last five or six overs, and score our runs there. “The rain had been in the air for much of the chase, with it forcing a long delay 13 overs into Sri Lanka’s innings. The moisture had assisted Zimbabwe’s quicks, according to Liyanage.”We lost two wickets at the start, and with the rain, the ball started to move a bit. So I thought at time that they’ve got two fast bowlers, so I’ll defend against them and if I bat for a while and get set, I could bat till the end. Their tall quicks got a bit extra out of the conditions with the rain.”